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If 2006 business travel prices gave you sticker shock, be prepared for more drama in 2007. According to several industry reports, prices are projected to ratchet up for the fourth year in a row. The American Express "Global Business Travel Forecast," for example, estimates that the cost of the average domestic business trip will rise 4.5 percent in 2007. In some cities where hotel room rates have skyrocketed, expect increases of twice that much.

Does that mean road warriors have to sacrifice quality to snag a bargain? Thankfully, no. With our 2007 Business Travel Awards, we're distinguishing the travel suppliers who offer the best bang for your buck--or who can point you in the right direction.

Keep in mind that our awards aren't based on a reader poll or an empirical ranking a la Consumer Reports. Instead, it's our editors' choices of companies that do a great job of serving the road warrior--and the CFO.

Best Airline Value:JetBlue Airways
Practically from its first flight seven years ago, JetBlue Airways was lauded for transforming the discount travel experience. Founder and CEO David Neeleman had built a carrier that travelers really wanted to fly, regardless of price. On some routes, JetBlue could command slightly higher fares than the competitions' because customers got quality in-flight service, roomy leather seats, terrific in-flight entertainment and appealing snack options. Innovative special touches include Shut-Eye Service on red-eye flights from the West, which offers a comfort kit and a hot towel service in the morning. And unlike other airlines, JetBlue doesn't charge Draconian fees for changing plans midtrip.

Then came the ice storm in February that triggered an operational and customer service breakdown at JetBlue's main hub, JFK. Passengers were stuck on planes for as long as 11 hours. The cascading effect of grounded traffic at JFK meant thousands of travelers were stranded at other airports. But before the miserable week was out, Neeleman had new contingency plans in place and humbly apologized across several media. He then introduced a Customer Bill of Rights that included compensating passengers whenever long delays of JetBlue's own making occur.

Is the damage permanent? Probably not. Neeleman's candor ("I'm mortified," he admitted) and swift, substantive response is already earning grudging respect from customers. BusinessWeek may have yanked JetBlue from its list of top 25 "customer service champs," but we think the airline, ever the innovator, will fly through hoops to reassure customers that its meltdown was a fluke.

Best Budget Hotel Value:Microtel
When saving money is your top concern, Microtel can take some of the sting out of staying at a no-frills hotel.

Every Microtel has interior hallways, electronic key cards and a front desk staffed 24 hours a day--all important safety features. Many Microtels also offer online preregistration for speedy check-in. There's even a frequent guest program that offers a free night's stay after nine stays at any location.

What also earns special praise is that Microtel offers--gratis--many of the special features that high-end hotels offer for a fee: Guests are treated to free wireless high-speed internet access in their rooms, plus free local and long-distance calls anywhere in the continental U.S. In fact, the only extra fees on your bill would come from a raid on the well-stocked vending machine.

When HGI was designed, the peeves and peccadilloes of the BlackBerry-toting, platinum-level road warrior were clearly taken into account. The details matter here, whether ergonomic, cosmetic or merely thoughtful. Forget your cell phone charger? You can buy one at the Pavilion Pantry mini-mart. Need to go online? High-speed internet access is free throughout the hotel. Need something printed? E-mail it to the hotel's 24-hour business center. Laser printing is free, as is the use of the photocopier and fax machine. (Standard office supplies are also provided.) If you work in your room, you'll be sitting on an insanely comfortable Herman Miller Mirra ergonomic chair at a spacious desk with plenty of outlets and dataports within easy reach. The high-end chairs are part of a recent brand refresher that also included a new kind of mattress with adjustable firmness and 26-inch flat-screen, high-definition TVs.

Every HGI has a 24-hour fitness center and pool. If you'd rather work out in the privacy of your nicely deco-rated room, ask for the Stay Fit Kit when you check in. It includes a yoga mat, a medicine ball, elastic bands for resistance training and hand weights. You may never want to leave your room.

More Travel Award Winners

Best Upscale Hotel Value:W Hotels
When W Hotels Worldwide launched in 1998, the idea of a "lifestyle" hotel chain seemed like a bunch of marketing bluster--on top of a dumb name. But consumers were able to see past the silliness and appreciate the substance. Eight years and 20 Ws later, the brand is still resonating. And now you can call it W for worldwide: Starwood, W's parent company, just announced it is building a new W in Dubai, its fifth outside the U.S.

Then there's the thoughtful service. Staffers are encouraged to keep their eyes and ears open: Leave empty packages of throat lozenges and Nyquil on your bathroom vanity, and room service might show up with a complimentary bowl of chicken soup. Need to organize an 11th-hour business event? The "whatever/whenever" concierge service will help you pull it off. Forget something important? Cosmetics and fashion survival kits should have most women covered, while men can just ring that helpful concierge.

Best New Hotel Brand:Hotel IndigoWhen big hotel companies known for bland, boxy rooms start talking about building "boutique" hotels, it's usually time to run the other way. The whole idea of a boutique hotel, after all, is to provide intimacy and uniqueness, not develop a formula for mass-produced whimsy. But InterContinental Hotels Group has created Hotel Indigo, a brand that has the spirit of a boutique hotel with the advantages of a hospitality powerhouse. It has an excellent frequency program, a well-designed website and some great downtown locations.

Business travelers get a great deal for the price, which can run in the low $100s per night. Hotel Indigo properties are already open in Atlanta, Chicago, Houston and Sarasota, Florida, with nine more set to open within the year.

Best Car Rental Value:Enterprise Rent-a-Car
Enterprise is the largest car rental firm in the U.S. and the fastest-growing car rental company in the airport segment. How has Enterprise managed to grow so quickly amid brutal competition? One reason is customer service, which is competent, veering on personable. For the third year in a row and the seventh time in the past eight years, Enterprise ranked highest in the 2006 J.D. Power and Associates "Rental Car Satisfaction Study." Enterprise received the highest rating in five of the six categories measured: cost and fees, pickup process, return process, shuttle bus/van service and reservation process.

We also like Enterprise's addition of portable GPS devices, which are now available at most airport locations. For $7.95 a day, you can use the StreetPilot, which contains roughly 6 million points of interest. What's especially customer-friendly about these devices is the text-to-speech feature that gives street names instead of just distances to streets.

Best SiteBooking BuddyWhen self-booking sites first launched, many business travelers balked at using them; it was much easier to have your travel agent make arrangements. But soon, every hotel, car-rental company and airline had created its own site and booking engine. With transparency came the opportunity for great prices.

But there can be significant price discrepancies among sites. To make comparison shopping easy, Booking Buddy lets you compare the comparers--online agencies (Expedia, Orbitz, Travelocity) against individual airline sites; aggregators (Hotwire, Sidestep) against each other; Hotels.com against Priceline. You'll also find a few sites you've probably never heard of, including Qixo, an airline site aggregator, and metasearch site Mobissimo. Booking Buddy even searches discount airlines (AirTran, JetBlue and Southwest) that aren't loaded in every electronic reservation system.

You enter your itinerary on Booking Buddy only once, then click on the site you want to visit. The site opens in a new window with your information. Despite the name, you don't actually book through Booking Buddy; you make online reservations yourself.

Best BlogEllipsesJournalist and consumer advocate Christopher Elliott's Ellipses gets our vote for best road-warrior blog. A stint at Travel Weekly in the early 1990s introduced him to travel, and he hasn't stopped writing about it since, racking up some impressive credentials. He's been a travel columnist for The New York Times and Tribune Media Services, an independent producer for National Public Radio and a frequent talking head on CNN. He will soon be hosting a travel show on the Fine Living Network.

Elliott knows travel, which is one reason his travel blogs--his most recent being Ellipses--are so compelling. He's fresh, he's funny and he can put all sorts of things in context--like the tortured history of net or "bare" fares and what customer service rankings really mean. He's also a capable ombudsman, trouble-shooting for Tripso.com with his "Customer Service Report" and for National Geographic Traveler.

Elliott sometimes gets it wrong. Last summer, he reported that an airplane manufacturer was considering a standing-room-only section of coach, and he was widely ridiculed. But when Elliott gets it right, he's spot on. Find Ellipses and more terrific travel information on Tripso.com.

Best RewardsRapid RewardsUnlike other travel loyalty programs, Southwest Airlines' Rapid Rewards program makes it easy to earn and redeem trips. Members earn credits by flying and doing business with the program's partners, among them Southwest's Visa affinity card, ATA Airlines, four car rental companies and six hotel chains. A one-way flight earns one credit; a roundtrip earns two. To qualify for a free flight, you have to fly eight roundtrips or earn 16 credits in a 24-month period. Southwest then automatically sends a Ticketless Award to your online account--along with a few drink coupons. Although there are blackout dates for award travel, the only charge is a $10 security fee.

What else is there to like about Rapid Rewards? Points are based on the number of flights, not the number of miles, so travelers who take short-haul flights aren't at a disadvantage. Also, a free flight can be used by anyone, not just the person who earned it. (But awards are only valid for 12 months.) And if you earn 100 credits in 12 months, you can name a companion to travel free with you for one year.